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Church of the Crossroads
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 16, 2005
Neal MacPherson

GOD AND EMPIRE
Isaiah 40:18-31
Psalm 106:1-13
Matthew 22:15-22

“Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” - Matthew 22:21

Or, as the Jesus Seminar translates the verse:

Everything about the story that surrounds this saying points to its authenticity as a saying of Jesus, and so we can be fairly certain that Jesus actually spoke these words. Again, the critics of Jesus try to trick him into saying something they can use against him. So they ask him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” We must remember that the Jews were an occupied people, and so the question of paying taxes to the occupier of their land was a critical question, especially for those who dreamed of the liberation of their land from Roman rule.

Jesus avoids the trap laid for him without really resolving the issue: he doesn’t advise them to pay the tax and he doesn’t advise them not to pay it. He does insist that they know the difference between the claims of the emperor and the claims of God.

That probably is good for us to know also, for we too belong to an empire, the American empire, as we have already known, and as David Korten has reminded us once again. It is therefore important for us to know the difference between the claims of the empire and the claims of God.

For us, however, it is a far more difficult task than it was for those who first asked Jesus the question. Recall that in the story, Jesus asked someone for a coin. On the coin handed to Jesus, the image of the emperor was clearly engraved. Therefore, Jesus could make a clear cut distinction between the claims of the emperor and the claims of God.

Now, I am going to ask you to reach into your pockets or your purses and take out a coin, any coin, or a bill, any bill will do. . . . . . This is what Renate Rose had us do in our lectionary study last Monday. Now, take a moment to look at it. On one side of the coin or bill you will find the image of one of the U.S. presidents. On the other side, you will find a symbol of some kind. But somewhere, also, on the coin or bill, you will find the words, “In God we trust.”

A little history is in order. The Congress passed the Coinage act in 1864 which authorized the words In God we Trust to appear on several coins. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883 and did not re-appear until 1938. The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909 and on the ten-cent Dime since 1916. In 1957, by an act of Congress, it began to appear on paper money and soon was included on all bills.

Now, this makes Jesus’ teaching confusing for us. Even though Christianity has not enjoyed a legal establishment in the United States, it has most certainly enjoyed a cultural establishment. In the civil religion of the nation, the Christian religion and the State have been all wrapped up in one another.

The legal separation between church and state, which we treasure and honor to this day, was hard won. There were lots of attempts, in the first colonies, to establish theocracies in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in Virginia, in Maryland, and in New York. Eventually, the legal establishment of religion was challenged in many places until in 1786 the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was passed, which in turn became a model for the principle of the separation of church and state and the protection of religious freedom that were finally guaranteed in the Bill of Rights in 1791.

In the meanwhile, the cultural establishment of Christianity as the religion of the nation moved along. The fact that In God we Trust appears on the money of the United States is only one indication of the cultural establishment of Christianity in the United States. The words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is another.

Yet, things have changed. Today, we livin a largely secular society. When I was asked to speak at the John A. Burns Democracy Lunch, the event took place on a Sunday morning at 10:30 AM! That would have been unheard of only a few years ago.

Moreover, we live in a religiously pluralistic society. In Hawai‘i, this ought to be clear to us, just as it is clear not only in every major urban center in the United States but now in many rural settings as well. The religious diversity of the nation has been beautifully described by Diana Eck in her book A New Religious America.

Given this new American reality, one cannot help but realize that we belong to a post-Christendom society. This new reality is apparently unsettling to many Christians who fear that the culture is no longer in their control. These Christians, growing in numbers, seem more determined than ever before to shore up Christianity’s cultural establishment. Witness the fact that in nominating the new Supreme Court candidate, Harriet Miers, President Bush first sought the blessing of the right wing conservative Christian James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Witness also the remarks of our own Lieutenant Governor Aiona this past December. “Hawai‘i belongs to Jesus,” he said. And he added, “I would like God to bless the people of Hawai‘i and see God’s love transform our State,” and “Our schools will become God’s schools, our community will become God’s community, our city will become God’s city, our islands will become God’s islands, our state will become God’s state and our Hawai‘i will become God’s Hawai‘i.” This kind of language, coming from a public official, is not only offensive to our secular friends; it is also offensive to many Buddhists who do not even use the term “God.” It is also offensive to us who have come to appreciate the religious diversity of these islands.

The legacy of Christianity’s cultural establishment in the United States and the ongoing attempts to shore up the idea that the United States is a “Christian nation” make it difficult for us to understand the difference between the claims of the Empire and the claims of God. Yet, as persons of faith, we must do so.

The sovereignty of God is central to our understanding of who we are and whose we are. In the words of the prophet Isaiah,

This same God is involved in the earth and in human life. God does not “faint or grow weary.” God “gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.”

God is God. Surely, the claims of God must have priority for us, When those claims speak of an inclusive love for all people, when those claims speak of a commitment to the poor and hungry and to the well being of the earth itself, when those claims speak of an abhorrence of violence and war-making, we cannot help but be led to resist the claims of the empire when it does not serve the common good, when it gives preferential treatment to the rich and the powerful, when in the name of progress it misuses and abuses the creation, and when it engages in unjustified war making. To sort this all out is no easy task. In many ways, it was easier for the listeners of Jesus. For them, there was far less confusion between the claims of the empire and the claims of God.

For us, it takes understanding. For us, it means that we must risk a critical stance towards all attempts to strengthen the cultural establishment of Christianity in our nation and all efforts weaken the legal separation of church and state. For us, it takes discernment and prayer. For us, it means that we must take a fresh, new look at the teachings of Jesus, which posed an alternative to the cultural values of his day. For us, it means that we must gain a new appreciation for the spirit of the early Christian community which had to make its way as a creative minority in the world in which it found itself.

We have many resources, both written resources and resources of the Spirit that we may rely upon as we sort out the claims of God upon our lives in contrast to the claims of the empire. I trust that as a Christian community we will indeed look to those resources as we seek to be God’s faithful people in this time and place. And may God’s Spirit guide us on our way.

Amen.

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